Monthly Archives: January 2022

3 Ways to Ease Grieving During the Holidays

After arranging services with funeral homes in South Bend, IN., you will be going through a difficult time. Grieving the loss of a loved one is never easy but can be even more difficult around the holidays. After all, the holidays are a time for friends and family to get together and spend time connecting with one another. When you are missing your loved one, this is probably the last thing on your mind.

While holiday parties, Christmas decorations, and joyful holiday music can bring feelings of joy, they can also stir up feelings of sadness. Although there will always be sad moments when grieving a loved one over the holidays, there are a few things you can do to help ease the pain.

Start a New Tradition

You may still practice the holiday traditions you did as a child. Maybe it’s allowing one present to be open on Christmas Eve or driving around looking at all the Christmas lights people have hung up. Whatever it is, these traditions bring us comfort and stir up wonderful memories of years past.

This is a great time to start a new tradition with your loved one in mind. One idea is to purchase a small tabletop Christmas tree and decorate it with a theme for your loved one. For example, if they loved fishing you could get ornaments and decorations with a fishing motif. Getting this tree out each year and decorating it is a great way to keep their memory alive. You could also hang a stocking up in their honor or set a place setting for them at the holiday table.

Volunteer

The holidays are a great time to get involved and volunteer. Did your loved one feel passionate about a charity or cause? Reach out to those organizations and see how you can help. Even if your loved one didn’t have a specific cause, there are many places that would love your help over the holidays. You can do an internet search for volunteering in your area to view some options. You can also call your local humane society or homeless shelters to see how you can be of use.

Take Care of Yourself

The hustle and bustle of the holiday season can be a lot for anyone to handle. Parties, shopping, wrapping presents, cooking and more is enough to throw the most organized person for a loop. Most people put self-care on the backburner during this time. This is never a good idea as your mental and physical health should always come first.

If you are grieving a loss at this time, it may be even more difficult for you to think about putting yourself first, but you must make yourself a priority. The stronger you feel both mentally and physically, the better equipped you will be for handling all that comes your way.

Set aside time to do things just for you. Read, hike, paint, write a letter, listen to music, relax in the bath; whatever refills your heart and soul with joy and comfort; do that.

In Conclusion

While the holidays may always bring moments of sadness, there are ways to ease those moments and add in touches of joy and happiness. Starting a new tradition, volunteering, and making sure you are taking care of yourself are just some of these ways.

When you are talking to funeral homes in South Bend, IN., ask them about additional resources and support groups that can also help you in this time. The compassionate staff at Cutler Funeral Home and Cremation Center is always here to help you with anything you may need.

Grieving in a Healthy Way

Working through grief after a loved one’s cremation services in Rolling Prairie, IN. can be such a difficult thing to do. You may feel lost and like you don’t know which way is up. And hearing that time heals all wounds is great but doesn’t really do much at the present moment.

Grief is a natural process and everyone handles it differently. While there is no exact right or wrong way to process the grief, there are healthy and unhealthy ways, The thing you want to focus on is making sure you are taking the healthy path. Hard as it may be, working through your grief in this healthy manner helps ensure you make it to the other side of this grief mentally and physically healthy.

While preforming activities that bring you joy or are deemed as “fun” may be the last thing on your mind, many of these activities have profound effects on helping you with your grief. Think of these things like tools in your toolbox.

Even if you aren’t 100% into the activity, just try it. Go through the motions and you will see that most likely, with time, things get easier and feelings of joy and happiness start appearing again. While there are many ways to work through grief that, we are going to talk about just two, pet therapy and journaling.

Pet Therapy

This is perfect of you are already an animal lover, and if not, well, you might change your mind after this. Pet therapy is such a lovely way of connecting with something again. Therapy dogs can be a great source of love and comfort. Spending time, petting a dog can help relieve stress and produce happy hormones in you brain. Also, people have found that dogs can be great to talk to. Getting your feelings out to a dog allows you to vent and process your thoughts in an honest manner. Dogs just listen. They don’t judge.

If dogs aren’t your thing, there are all types of animals in the therapy space. Do a search and you can find everything from therapy horses to chickens and goats.

Journaling

Working though your grief can be as simple as picking up a pen or pencil and putting your thoughts onto paper. Journaling has been shown to give many benefits for people working through trauma and/or grief. The good news is that your journal can be kept anyway you wish.

Of course you can always start off with “Dear Diary”, but if that feels a little high school, start off anyway you like. Write down random thoughts, single words, draw pictures, make bullet points, doodle, or ramble. Just pick up the pen and start.

One thing to consider is keeping your journal private. This way you have complete freedom in what you write. This allows more honest feelings and thoughts to come out.

In Conclusion

While these two activities are very effective in working through grief, there are by no means the only options. There are a ton of activities to choose from. The important thing is to find something that resonates with you. And remember that it may not feel “right “or “okay “at first, but its all a process. In taking these steps you are helping ensure your mental and physical state stays healthy…and that is what your loved one would want.

If you would like more resources to help with grief after your cremation services in Rolling Prairie, IN., make sure to call the caring staff at Cutler Funeral Home and Cremation Center. They are always more than happy to help you through this difficult time.

Creating a Care Package for a Grief

If your friend or family member has had a loved one pass, they are most likely talking with funeral homes in Rolling Prairie, IN. about funeral services. During this process, your friend or family member will have many things to consider, decisions to make, and arrangements to handle. You may want to help them but aren’t sure exactly how or what is appropriate. One way to help them is with gifting them a care package.

A care package is a nice way to let them know you are thinking of them and offering them your love and support. It is something that can be unique to their needs and is something that can be delivered if you live far away.

Food and Snacks

One most common forms of a care package are those that contain food. When your loved one is grieving, the last things on their mind may be cooking or eating. Help them keep up their strength and health with giving them ready-to-eat meals.

Dishes that can be refrigerated or frozen and simply heated up make it easy for your loved one to make a meal. These dishes can be prepared by you or, if you live too far or aren’t a good cook, you could call and have food delivered to their home.

You could also make a basket full of goodies that are more snackable. Things like chips, nuts, crackers, cookies, and fruit are perfect items that your loved one can munch on without any prep time.

Comfort Basket

When your loved one is grieving, they may be spending more time at home for a little while. Making them a relaxing self-care package is a wonderful way to offer them comfort when you are not physically with them. Adding in things like a soft, plush blanket or robe they can cuddle up in is like getting a warm hug from you. Other ideas you could add are hot tea pouches with a jar of honey, cozy socks, a scented candle, or a sleeping eye mask.

Help them Grieve

Many times people shut down a little when they are grieving They may not wish to talk about the death or their feelings. Other people may not face their feelings at all and act everything is fine and just go about daily life as normal. There is no right or wrong way to grieve. What is important is that it is done in a healthy way.

Help your loved one by offering items that may inspire them to work though their grief. Art therapy items have been shown to help people with the grieving process. Some items could be a journal and a nice pen, or paints, brushes, and a few small canvases. If they already enjoy a hobby such as crocheting, perhaps adding pretty yarns and new patterns would be nice.

In Conclusion

Sending your loved one a care package is such a wonderful way to show them your love and support. While they are going through this difficult time, their world will feel like it has turned upside-down. Your care package can really make a difference in helping them grounded and cared for.

After your loved one has talked with funeral homes in Rolling Prairie, IN., decide what items would help them most, create the care package, and schedule when it will be delivered. If you still need ideas or have more questions, the compassionate staff at Cutler Funeral Home and Cremation Center is always here to help.

Managing Social Media Accounts for Deceased

After a loved ones’ passing and cremation services in Michigan City, IN., there will be many things you need to take care of. One of those things is social media accounts your loved one might have had. Today, people have a life online just as much, if not more, as they do offline.

Addressing these accounts will ensure their digital space is updated and protected. Social media accounts can include, but are not limited to, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, and Linkedin.

While there are numerous social media platforms your loved one could have, we will discuss how to manage some of the most popular ones.

Facebook

This is most likely the most well-known social media outlet. It has been a giant in the social space for a long time and continues to gain new users every day.

If your loved one planned ahead, they may have appointed a person on their account as their “legacy contact”. This assigned person would have the authority to post on the deceased’s account and continue to manage it.

If no legacy contact was assigned, you would need to contact Facebook with proof of death as well as documents proving your identification. Then you could either have the account deleted or set up as a “memorial” page.

Having a memorial page means that in front of your loved one’s name, the word “Remembering” will be added. This allows the page content to remain and people to post on the page, but nobody will have access to functions such as changing pictures, seeing messages, etc.

Twitter

With Twitter being more strict, their policies prohibit log in information to be given out no matter what the case. This means that there is no legacy contact and no way to access and manage the account. You can, however, delete the account. To do this you will need to contact Twitter with proof of death and identification for your loved one.

Instagram

Since Facebook owns Instagram, the policies are the similar. While Instagram does not feature a “legacy contact” option, it does allow you to either delete the account or set up as a “memorial” account.

To do this, you will need to show that your identification, and the loved one’s death or birth certificate, and proof that you have the legal power over their estate.

If you loved one had any other social media accounts, it is best to look at those companies’ policies and procedures since they can all differ. Also know that current polices can change at any time. It is best if you have your loved one’s log in information to ensure you are able to access and manage the accounts.

After your loved one’s cremation services in Michigan City, IN., managing their online presence is something that will need to be taken care of. Although we have addressed how to handle the top three social media accounts, your loved one could have many more. If you need additional help or have questions, reach out to the caring staff at Cutler Funeral Home and Cremation Center and let them assist you.